Tuesday, April 14, 2015

Forgiveness and Justice after Being Attacked by a Murderer

A masked man dressed all in black grabbed a colleague’s girlfriend at the doorway of their apartment and held a gun on her. My peaceful friend acted, forcefully, stopping the thug, and got stabbed repeatedly in his lungs. Fortunately, he and his girlfriend both survived. And finally, the attacker was caught by the police; it turned out he had murdered another victim in a separate crime.

Sounds like the daily news does it not? Both horrific and usual, a troubling combination.

All across the world, millions of humans are being imperiled, attacked, and slaughtered, and understandably, many leaders are calling for revenge, for an “eye for an eye” against such killers. It’s payback time.

And can anyone blame the compatriots who yell out for vengeance and justice against such evil-doers?

But here’s where a few humans take a different road. These life-changers strike with a very different choice, a very different ethical response. For in the end, Phill Courtney got up in court and spoke personally to the murderous criminal who had stabbed him. He faced his attacker in the dock and said,

“So Mr. Scott does this mean that I think you are evil? Do I think you’re an animal? Scum? Human garbage?”

“It does not. Your acts were evil, but you remain a human being. I may find your behavior unfathomable, but I am reminded of the words of the ancient theologian Tertullian who said, ‘Nothing human is foreign to me.’"

“Human beings are capable of an immense spectrum of behavior ranging from the most heinous acts of cruelty and mass murder to almost miraculous feats of self-sacrifice that leave us gasping in astonishment. The great mystery is what causes one person to head one direction and someone else in another. I cannot begin to solve that mystery, but I know that you and I headed in opposite directions before we met that night…”

“I know that I grew up in a stable home with two parents who loved and nurtured me. I know that you grew up in foster homes and I know about the instability of your mother. I know that when we begin to talk of such circumstances many people begin to think that we are talking about an excuse for your behavior, instead of an explanation. It doesn’t matter that some people raised as I was become criminals and some people raised in your condition become pillars of the community. In the final analysis, the human race does a poor job of protecting its children from hate, dysfunction, and cruelty. We are told that we have control over our lives and we are responsible for our actions, but children have no control over their lives…”

“What does this mean for those wounded children who grow up and then seek to wound those around them? What is to be their punishment? Plato wrote that “punishment brings wisdom; it is the healing art of wickedness.” Would capital punishment bring healing?”

“Before I was attacked, I believed that the execution of human beings was a violent and primitive act. I still believe that. Yes, I would have done whatever it would have taken to stop you that night, Mr. Scott, but now that you are confined, I believe that despite what you have done, you remain a human being and must be treated as one. A wise man…said that a society should be judged not by how it treats its best, but by how it treats its worst.”

“…You must remain separated from others as long as there’s a shadow of doubt you are capable of violence against them. If that essentially means the rest of your life, then so be it.”

“Finally, Mr. Scott, I forgive you for trying to murder me."

"I know that’s just a word. But to forgive you does not mean to forget what you did and what you could do in the future, for besides tragically destroying and damaging the lives of others, you have ultimately destroyed your own. I hope that by reaching, at long last, the end of this agonizingly long trial, we may move on and find whatever peace and comfort can be had in this less than perfect world.”
--

Wow. Reflect on Phill Courtney’s unusual, brave, and compassionate action--speaking personally to the vicious attacker who had tried to murder him and his girlfriend, telling that dangerous thug that he “forgives” him.

It still takes my breath away.

Would you be deeply committed enough to wisdom, compassion, and forgiveness to do that? Would I?

They say talk is cheap…but in this case, verbally forgiving a violent criminal who had stabbed you, was very powerful and ethically the opposite of cheap. That action must have been very difficult for Phill Courtney to do.

Phill isn’t your average human…but an ethical thinker and doer. He has spent his life standing up for the environment, justice, peace, and forgiveness. A passionate peacemaker, he was one of only two teachers who stood up against the attack on Iraq, and is a former Green Party Candidate, active socially concerned citizen, a person who seeks to live the ethic of Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr. and other world-changers.

What are your thoughts on his views of capital punishment, criminal justice, and ethics in general?

*Phill Courtney has written several books including one on this harrowing experience.
He is also a columnist for the Redlands Daily Facts, and a published playwright and poet.
Please check with him for more information.

4 comments:

I personally believe that death penalty should be abolished. So did Dostoevsky (whom Phil Courtney quoted while addressing his attacker), and so does Sister Helen Prejean, my hero. Dostoevsky also said in his novel "Idiot" that killing a criminal "by law" for killing someone else is a much worse crime than the original one, because the certainty of the execution strips away all hope from the soul. But, enough quotes. I am against the death penalty because it does not solve the problems of our society; in fact, it creates more problems. Executing a murderer does not bring back his victims to life; it does not give peace of mind to the loved ones, nor does it satisfy their anger. All it does is create a gaping hole in the souls of everyone involved. Not to mention the expense the state goes through every time an execution is scheduled and performed.Thank you.

Thanks for telling me about Sister Helen Prejean. I just looked up her bio on Wikipedia.It's been a while since I read a novel by Dostoevsky, Brothers Karamazov about 10 years ago, and Crime and Punishment, The Devils, before that.

I feel ambivalent about the death penalty but have opposed it for many years. Killing a killer isn't rational. And there are, of course,many other reasons including practical ones to oppose the action.

Besides, notice where C.P. is most popular and most used.

Phill as you can see is a very strong advocate for its abolition. Still, that he could get up and forgive the violent abuser and murderer amazes me.

"Dead Man Walking" by Sister Prejean is a valuable book on the subject of the death penalty. Besides the interesting story line (that we all know from the movie), it is also full of research on the subject.

Words of Truth

TO BE HOPEFUL in bad times is not just foolishly romantic. It is based on the fact that human history is a history not only of cruelty, but also of compassion, sacrifice, courage, kindness.

What we choose to emphasize in this complex history will determine our lives…If we remember those times and places…where people have behaved magnificently, this gives us the energy to act, and at least the possibility of sending this spinning top of a world in a different direction.

And if we do act, in however small a way, we don’t have to wait for some grand utopian future. The future is an infinite succession of presents, and to live now as we think human beings should live, in defiance of all that is bad around us, is itself a marvelous victory. --Howard Zinn

I refuse to accept despair as the final response to the ambiguities of history. I refuse to accept the idea that the "isness" of man's present nature makes him morally incapable of reaching up for the eternal "oughtness" that forever confronts him.--Martin Luther King Jr.

True religion consisted in an inward life, wherein the heart does love and reverence God the Creator, and learns to exercise true justice and goodness...I found no narrowness respecting sects and opinions, but believed that sincere, upright-hearted people, in every society, who truly love God, were accepted of him.--John Woolman

Love each other as I have loved you.. I call you friends because I have made known to you everything I heard from my Father.--Jesus in John 15: 12-15

...Love God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind and your neighbor as yourself.

You have answered right, said Jesus, do this and life is yours...

Who is my neighbor?

Jesus replied with the Parable of the Good Samaritan [heretic, outsider, enemy].--from Luke 10:27-37

Religion has been emphatically embodied, not in speculative theories, but in practical righteousness, in active virtues, in reverence to God, in benevolence to man- the latter being the only sure test of the former. --Thomas M'Clintock

...It is safer to approach God through the Holy Spirit than through the door of theology. We can identify the Holy Spirit whenever it makes its presence felt. Whenever we see someone who is loving, compassionate, mindful, caring, and understanding, we know that the Holy Spirit is there. --Thich Nhat Hanh

Faith...manifests itself in all righteousness and works of love; it clothes the naked; feeds the hungry; consoles the afflicted; shelters the miserable; aids and consoles all the oppressed; returns good for evil; serves those that injure it; prays for those that persecute it.--Menno Simons

About Me

A committed Process-theist, Enlightenment ethicist and humanist, moral realist, human rights activist, and moderate skeptic (like Martin Gardner co-founder of the modern skeptic movement). I am a free-seeker--an avid seeker of the Good, the True, the Beautiful, and of equality, peace, justice, mercy, compassion, fidelity, generosity, and so forth. I try and model my life on Jesus' Sermon on the Mount and his parables such as the Good Samaritan. I've a deep passion for worldwide outreach to those in need. Loving and living for the Divine--Ultimate Reality in whom we love, move, and have our being.
A poet and novelist; Married with three grown kids; Degree in Creative Writing from Cal State University Long Beach; Lived in the Middle East, Montana, etc; Former literature and writing teacher.